Mount Panorama, Bathurst, NSW: HMO Customer Racing is aiming to overcome the uphill challenge it has faced previously on the hallowed Mount Panorama circuit in the third round of 2022 TCR Australia Championship at Bathurst this Easter long weekend.
Following the introduction of a new compound Michelin tyre – and the removal of success ballast from disappointing results – at the previous round of the SpeedSeries at Phillip Island, HMO Customer Racing drivers, Nathan Morcom, Josh Buchan and Bailey Sweeny, head to Bathurst confident they can regain the front-running form that saw all three drivers score podium results in the opening round at Symmons Plains.
The world famous 6.2km circuit has been a challenging track for the Hyundai i30 N TCR in the past, owing to Balance of Performance penalties that have hampered its performance on the long straights and fast and flowing section across the top of the Mountain.
But the team believe they are better prepared to vanquish the demons this weekend.
“We had a car that was in the top five on pace at Bathurst last year, but we got caught out in Qualifying with a red flag as it took us five or six laps to optimise the old tyre,” Buchan said.
“The new tyre seemed to make the car come alive much quicker at Phillip Island, and I hope that translates to Bathurst as well.
“It’s always exciting to race at Mount Panorama, and I’m confident we can reignite our championship challenge especially without the 60kg of success ballast we carried around there last year.
“We need to focus on being consistent and not making any mistakes to score as many points as possible this weekend.”
For Morcom, he is aiming to climb back onto the podium and is confident the lack of success ballast will play a critical role in achieving that at Bathurst.
“Bathurst wasn’t kind to us last year, but we’re heading back to the Mountain confident we have a front running package in the Hyundai i30 N TCR,” he said.
“We don’t have any weight penalties in the car this weekend, which will be good for us in every area; better on brakes; better on the tyres and obviously help with top speed up and down the Mountain.
“We didn’t expect to be as fast as we were at Symmons Plains for round one with its long straights, but I put it on pole and we all scored a podium there. So hopefully we can flip the script like that again at Bathurst.”
For Sweeny, the 19-year-old is competing in his first TCR race at a familiar track having raced at Bathurst previously, consistently featuring in the top 10 of the one-make Toyota 86 series last year.
Track action for round three of the 2022 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship begins on Friday with two practice sessions, with qualifying, race one and race two to be held on Saturday with the final race on Sunday in the lead-up to the Bathurst 6-Hour production car enduro.
2022 TCR Australia Championship Standings
| 1. | Tony D’Alberto | Honda Civic Type R | 224 |
| 2. | Jordan Cox | Peugeot 308 TCR | 222 |
| 3. | Zac Soutar | Honda Civic Type R | 201 |
| 4. | Fabian Coulthard | Honda Civic Type R | 198 |
| 5. | Jay Hanson | Audi RS3 LMS | 188 |
| 6. | Will Brown | Audi RS3 LMS | 185 |
| 7. | Dylan O’Keefe | Peugeot 308 TCR | 174 |
| 8. | Nathan Morcom | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 170 |
| 9. | Michael Caruso | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 165 |
| 10. | Ban Bargwanna | Peugeot 308 TCR | 155 |
| 11. | Josh Buchan | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 151 |
| 14. | Bailey Sweeny | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 131 |
Mount Panorama Fast Facts
Location: Bathurst, New South Wales
Length: 6.213km
TCR Lap Record: – 2:14.8162sec, Chaz Mostert, 2021
TCR Pole Record: – 2:16.0769sec, Chaz Mostert, 2021
Schedule
Friday April 15 Saturday April 16 Sunday March 20
Practice 1: 8:50am Qualifying: 12:20am Race 3: 10:10pm
Practice 2: 2:00pm Race 1: 2:45pm
Race 2: 5:10pm
Nathan Morcom – Bathurst Results 2021
Practice 1: P16 – 2:24.5976sec
Practice 2: P14 – 2:18.8595sec
Qualifying: P17 – 2:35.4371sec
Race 1: P18 – 2:17.1263sec
Race 2: P15 – 2:16.9359sec
Race 3: P9 – 12:17.3398sec
Josh Buchan – Bathurst Results 2021
Practice 1: P9 – 2:20.3188sec
Practice 2: P13 – 2:18.6194sec
Qualifying: P18 – 2:37.8761sec
Race 1: P14 – 2:15.7855sec
Race 2: P12 – 2:16.9359sec
Race 3: P10 – 2:16.4817sec
